The Disney Store might seem like an unusual place to find Power Rangers
toys, let alone exclusive ones, until you recall that Power Rangers
airs on ABC Family and Toon Disney, which is owned by Disney. In point
of fact, the most recent Power Rangers series, as of this writing, OPERATION
OVERDRIVE, is a co-production between Disney and Toei.

Disney stands behind its Power Rangers brand. I recall recently seeing
a series of T-shirts that featured sketched images of popular Disney
characters. There was one for Mickey Mouse, one for Donald Duck, one
for Goofy, one for Mowgli and Baloo, ones for several other characters
-- and sure enough, there was a Power Rangers one in there. Almost makes
me wonder if one might expect to see costumed Power Rangers wandering
around the Disney parks.

Although most of the Power Rangers products to be found at Disney Stores
are only exclusive merchandise insofar as being repackagings are concerned
-- two-packs of 5" scale figures are especially prominent -- there
are exceptions. And one of them was the whopping big, and very reasonably
priced, 12" Mercury Ranger that I discovered recently.

Most Power Rangers figures tend to be in the 5" range, give or
take a bit. The recent 15th Anniversary Red Ranger series presented
us with figures that were around 6-1/2" in height. So one can well
imaging how large a 12" Ranger looks compared to that.

Fortunately, this is a really well-made Mercury Ranger.

So who, precisely, is the Mercury Ranger? He is the inevitable "sixth
Ranger" of the Operation Overdrive concept, the one that shows
up a little later and maybe doesn't quite fit the motif of the other
five, although the Mercury Ranger comes decently close. According to
the entry on Operation Overdrive on Wikipedia, the Mercury Ranger is
named Tyzonn, and he is a Mercurian with the ability to transform his
body into mercury. He followed the Fearcats to Earth to bring them to
justice for causing the deaths of the intergalactic search and rescue
team of which he was previously a member. He is portrayed by Dwayne
Cameron.

The Fearcats, it should be mentioned are one of the forces of villains
involved in the Operation Overdrive story, a faction of villains associated
with alien cat-beasts who were turned into cyborgs.

The Mercury Ranger was dressed in a silver uniform, and unlike the
white center stripe that most of the Operation Overdrive Rangers had
on their uniforms, the Mercury Ranger's was black, with an orange outline.

The 12" Mercury Ranger has duplicated this superbly well. Although
the body doesn't have any distinct sculpted detailing for the uniform
details, leading me to believe that, not unlike the 15th Anniversary
Rangers, it is a sort of "generic" body design that can be
used for multiple figures, the painted detailing is very nicely done,
with the orange-outlined black stripe running down the center of the
front of the uniform from collar to boot tops, and down the inside of
the sleeves.

And what's especially interesting is that the pattern is repeated on
the back of the figure! Now, Bandai makes excellent action figures,
and I do enjoy their Power Rangers. But they have had, over the past
few years, the distinctly annoying habit of not applying much paint
detailing to the backs of their Power Rangers figures, even where there
are very clearly delineated sculpted lines for the application of paint.

The 5" scale Mercury Ranger very clearly has lines on his back
that indicate where black and orange SHOULD have been painted, but wasn't.
In contrast, while the 12" Mercury Ranger does not have sculpted
lines, the paint detailing IS present, and very well done. There's only
a few areas around the insignia on the chest where it looks like some
sort of touch- up on the black and the orange might have taken place,
and could have been a little neater. But this could have been caused,
I don't know, even by the application of the insignia, which was probably
stamped on. And it's nothing serious, and nothing I can't correct.

There are a few areas where some sculpted detailing would have been
appreciated, although I accept that this is a generic body that I am
sure Bandai expects to get a lot of use out of. The glove tops, boot
tops, and some little gadgets at the shoulders SHOULD have been raised,
and are on the 5" version of this figure. But this simply wasn't
possible to do on the 12" figure. At least they are painted neatly,
and I understand the practical side of this, so I really can't complain.

The Mercury Ranger is wearing a separate belt, which is nicely made,
and to which the weapon that is included with the figure can be attached.

The Mercury Ranger's overall physique seems a little thin, especially
in the arms, but let's face it, the smaller figures tend to be a little
more built up muscle-wise than their real life counterparts, and I think
I've gotten used to the 15th Anniversary Rangers, who are real powerhouses.
So with all probability, the physique of the 12" Mercury Ranger
is likely more plausible than some.

Although I should note one other possibility. There is a line of 12"
Rangers that is available at other retailers -- I've seen them especially
at Target -- where the figures are wearing cloth costumes. I've never
purchased them, but the costumes aren't the greatest fits in the world.
But I do find myself wondering if the body underneath the costume would
be identical to the one used on this Mercury Ranger. It might explain
the seemingly slender limbs. But I have no specific proof of this, so
this is just speculation.

How's the articulation on this figure? Really excellent. He's not quite
a Marvel Legends figure, but the 12" Mercury Ranger's articulation
is certainly above average. He's poseable at the head, arms (outward
and well as back and forth), an upper arm swivel, double-jointed elbows,
wrists, waist, legs, an upper leg swivel, double-jointed knees,and ankles
that not only move back and forth but also pivot side to side. I have
little doubt that this Mercury Ranger can assume a wide range of martial
arts poses, and keep a good stance in the process.

The articulation is mostly sound and tight, although mine seems a little
loose in the left arm. However, and this is an interesting point for
anyone who might be inclined to customize a figure like this -- he's
almost entirely assembled with screws. The only place I see rivets,
plastic or metal, are in the wrists and ankle pivots. It should otherwise
be possible, if one so desired, to take a Phillips screwdriver and completely
disassemble this figure down almost completely for either customizing
or repair.

One other thing I would like to note. Ask any toy factory or manufacturer,
and they'll tell you that any plastic with a metallic sheen to it, such
as silver, is a nightmare to work with. If it is not injected into the
mold properly, the end result is a figure with a LOT of lines in the
metal pattern. I have a Mego Buck Rogers Twiki standing right here on
my computer table, from 1979. He's about 2-1/2" tall. He's a cool
figure and I'm glad to have him, but he's molded in silver plastic,
and the domed top of his head looks like a cracked eggshell, and parts
of his body look like some sort of silver woodgrain.

There is almost NO evidence of this on the 12" Mercury Ranger.
I won't say he's 100% flawless. But he's a darn sight closer to flawless
than one might expect to find these days. I don't know what procedures
the factory Bandai used to make this figure used to minimize mold pattern
problems, but it should be well studied by other toy companies just
in general.

So what's my final word on this figure? How about spectacular? Seriously,
this is one cool Power Ranger. He's a whopping big size, but I got him
for a very reasonable price. He has an astounding range of articulation,
and seems a lot more sturdily made than I initially expected. This 12"
Mercury Ranger would delight anyone who enjoys the Power Rangers, whether
child or adult collector.

But, you can only get him at the Disney Store, although it's possible
he might also be available through their Web Site. In any case, the
POWER RANGERS OPERATION OVERDRIVE 12" MERCURY RANGER definitely
has my enthusiastic recommendation!